IT WILL INSPIRE YOU: "I CAN ONLY IMAGINE" (OPENS MARCH 16, 2018)

MOVIE REVIEW:

The first time I saw the band Mercy Me LIVE was 15 years ago when WinterJam went through Bloomington, Illinois. Success was wearing very well on lead singer Bart Millard as his mega-hit song “I CAN ONLY IMAGINE”, not only became the biggest Christian hit song of all time, in modern history but was all over the secular radio stations. I mean, who would not want to go to Heaven? The lyrics of this song and the rising melody, combined with expert phrasing made it a perfect balm for the easy listening mainstream radio types.

Fifteen years after the release of the song, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE was made into a full-length feature movie starting some pretty good mainstream stars. Anyone who knows the background of Mercy Me or the story behind the song itself “I Can Only Imagine”, will know it is lead singer’s Bart Millard’s personal life story....to a certain extent.

Growing up an only child in the dusty small Texas town of Greenville, Bart Millard (played in the movie by J. Michael Finley) just barely made out of his teenage years alive, after a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse by a very abusive father. His mother had flown the coop after one too many beatings from Millard’s father. In the soon to be released I CAN ONLY IMAGINE (March 16, 2018), Bart Millard’s father is played by the great Hollywood actor Randy Quaid, who has played in good family movies before. Quaid is completely in character, superb and gave an amazing portrayal of Bart's real-life father.

Purely by accident, Millard was found out to have a powerful singing voice and a lot of talent. After high school football injury sidelined him permanently, he went into music up to and after graduation. Due to the continuing abuse at home, the post-high school Millard, could not wait to get out of his father’s house and go launch what he thought would be a good music career.

Along with three other high school friends, the musical quartet hit the road and with some minor success. In the meantime, Bart was busy doing some emotional abuse of his own. His relationship with his high school sweetheart (now his real-life wife Shannon) was going further south than Galveston, Texas. The movie, expertly done by the Erwin Brothers of Alabama reminds me of another true story spectacular event they produced in recent years called Woodlawn!

If you loved Woodlawn, with its gritty and bold screenplays and acting, you would more than love I CAN ONLY IMAGINE. How this song came to be is incredible in itself. The Bart Millard I once stood next to at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport early one morning a few years ago, was not the same arrogant young man who ended up writing and performing this multi-million crossover pop/Christian music hit. J. Michael Finley did a great job portraying the Mercy Me lead singer and frontman and throughout the movie. He takes you through a wave of emotions, concerning Bart, from his very sympathetic years through high school, to the unbearable years when the band was in its infancy, to the great man of God, he is today.

There is one very touching (and warm) surprise in I CAN ONLY IMAGINE and you will have to see it to get the full story. Through the Erwin Brothers great story-telling and weaving of the perfect choice of character actors, whether it was Trace Adkins or Randy Quaid or J. Michael Finley as Bart Millard, the viewer is taken on a really inspiring soft roller-coaster ride. It can be emotional at times, so feel free to take your Kleenex. But like all Erwin Bros. movies, there are some great humorous moments. The Erwins are well-known for movies like Mom's Night Out, October Baby and others, apart from Woodlawn.

This is an unsolicited, unpaid or un-anything review. I just loved the movie and predict it to be the biggest Christian movie of the year. It may not bring in the $1 billion that some Hollywood blockbuster would, but this one has something more important than any Hollywood movie- REAL HEART! It has also eternal consequences, as Jesus is boldly proclaimed and it is for the entire family. The Erwin brothers (Jon and Andrew); Producer Kevin Downes (actor from Courageous) and Executive Producer Cindy Bond have made, what could very well be,  the best movie of 2018. We shall see!! God bless.

CLICK HERE FOR I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WEBSITE
GET TICKETS HERE FOR YOUR LOCAL THEATER

THE ALL-PERCEIVING GOD- : PSALM 139: VERSES 13-16

THE OMNISCIENT GOD
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139:13-16)

"Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” They went out of the city, and were coming to Him." (John 4:29-30)....these are the words of the five-time married, now living in sin, famous "Woman at the Well"!

Putting aside the obvious amazement that a fairly loose heathen woman would obviously know more Scripture and prophesy than 75% of church women (and men) today, her words reveal so much more about an Attribute of God, it is uncanny.

In fact, this statement by another unnamed biblical figure who was healed by Jesus explains beautifully the verses from Psalm 139 written above (verses 13-16)! By the way, there is a reason almost none of the multitude of Jesus healed and/or ministered to,  are actually named in the Gospels. Whether it is this now wonderful converted Samaritan saint, or the woman with the blood issue or the nobleman's son or the blind man or the ten lepers....and on and on. Not one of them was named. They were not named because the Holy Spirit of God Who inspired Scripture wants us to focus on the God Who Heals (Yahweh Rophe).

In Psalm 139 verse 13, we see the intricacy of the Design of the most Intelligent Designer of the Universe and Creator of Heaven and Earth. The most evil thing about governments and educators forcing human beings to learn their "Theory of Evolution" only, as if it were fact, is it robs people of their souls coming into true fellowship. When you force-feed innocently trusting kids seeking knowledge, that their ancestors crawled out of the ocean or were monkeys that came from a big bang that came out of nothing, what hope do you expect them to have about a great life out there for them?

We can discuss the future fiery home of these people some other time, but an absence of God in education, culture and now sadly, church culture has led the vast majority of mankind in the past 150 years permanently away from the All-seeing, All-perceiving God Who is both omniscient and loving, if some of these same humans would open their brains and think a little. Christianity is the only thinking man's religion where you do not check your brains at the doorstep.

Verse 14:  We believe that this incredible human body with its amazing network of cells, ligaments, a heart that pumps blood, lungs that take in air and a brain which cannot be fathomed, did NOT come from some explosion out of nothing-ness or an ape. The same people who teach this vile stuff, will force food or auto manufacturers to follow the law very carefully to insure their products are safe, workable and up to code. Yet with matters of even more significance, they deny the Creator. 

We invite you to think of what "fearfully and wonderfully made" actually means. Some would argue that the Alabama-based Mercedes Benz plant makes some of the most wonderful creations of autos. The engineering that goes into a Nissan in Tennesee or the Toyota in Kentucky is incredible. But even these machines are not built to last 30-40-70-95 years (or over 100 years) in some cases. The human body is! Some people abuse their own bodies with gouging at buffet restaurants, diet coke, rum and coke or burgers with cheese sauce, bread and fries (over 5000 calories) and still, if they change their diet and exercise, the body restores itself. In the original language, "fearfully" means that God has set us apart from the other species (like animals) with such respect, reverence and such heart-felt interest in His Creation that He made a marvelous (wonderful) thing! This is why He says in Psalm 116:15 "precious in the Eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints". God respects and loves those who love Him and our death on earth is precious to Him, since it means, He is calling us now, literally back to Himself. When we are forgiven and saved by the Blood of Christ, our inner person instinctively knows all this, since our inner person is awakened as unto God. Each human has that capacity to know God intimately, unfortunately, the majority reject that free gift.

Verse 15:  Consider this the following: if you or I were working on a song with our guitar or piano, or say my friend who is an artist with wax and oils starts working on the huge four by six foot canvas, would we really want to stream it LIVE over Facebook or Periscope or God knows what else is out there? No! The majority of sane people would wait until we are good and ready to showcase the item, or painting before releasing for public consumption. God is the Wisest Being in the Universe and His teachings and creation are out there and plain for EVERYONE to see. We have the Bible and can see everything around us including the uncountable stars and galaxies. However, He does His most important work in secret there- and that is the forming and shaping of the Souls of His Saints.

We were fearfully and physically wonderfully made, when Adam was created and the human race began. We are all direct descendants of Noah and his sons and their wives (from whence all the races came). We do not get to see the baby in a mother's womb at Memorial Hospital grow from conception to a 10 weeks old to six months in, until we see the child delivered at birth. The baby is alive from the moment of conception. The mother knows the baby is alive. The ultrasound PROVES there is a baby in there. God put the entire baby Creation in motion. This is all done away from Facebook Live and all public eyes. This is how our God works. His best work is done in secret, because, in spiritual terms, it is the fruits of our labor which matters.

Verse 16:  The Attributes of God all work together - for obvious reasons. First of all, He is God. Secondly, while His personality, like ours, may have different qualities, it is still different sides of the same Coin.  He is both all-knowing, all-seeing and all-powerful. We know from the New Testament as well, that God knows us before He even created the world. So it is no surprise that our actual time on this earth is both known and set in stone. 

There is only one instance in history where God extended a man's life. King Hezekiah appealed to the Lord and was given 15 more years by the Lord. Hezekiah found out from the prophet Isaiah he was about to die and cried out to heaven. Now God knew in advance He was going to give this grace to the king. Nothing takes God by surprise. He knows the beginning from the end and vice versa. While we will only live those numbereD days, preset by our Heavenly Father, how we live here on earth means EVERYTHING. Most people just stumble through life, do what they think is the best they can and then wait to pass on. Most think they are "okay" and God is okay with that.  Most are wrong.

Jesus said He came to give us life, to give us life more abundantly and that begins now. The moment we come into relationship with God through Christ, and are born again, we begin the journey which will carry us through Eternity. How awesome and truly great this permanent relationship with God through Christ is, depends entirely on us. We can know all these stunning attributes of God and quote them freely, but if we do not intimately know the God behind these attributes Himself, we are lost and in eternal danger. Do you know Him? Does HE know YOU, as His? It is easy to do - Jesus said "the time is fulfilled (here), repent, believe the Gospel" (Mark 1:15)....and be saved. Amen.

LET THERE BE LIGHT....(NOT YOUR TYPICAL MOVIE REVIEW)

This is a review of a paying customer to a local AMC Theater. It is totally unsolicited, just like all reviews posted on this site. Thank you.
As mainstream Hollywood flounders under the weight of itself, the increasing abundance of some amazing Christian films is just astounding. Let There Be Light (LTBL) is one such film. While Pure Flix has become the "Warner Brothers" of Faith and Family big time movies and streaming services, LTBL is in independent movie produced by none other than the top U.S. Cable News Host - Sean Hannity of the Fox News Channel.

The official Let There Be Light website describes the movie thus, in part:
"....But even with all the fame and success, Sol is empty and distraught on the inside and his increasing reliance on alcohol to numb the pain is only making things worse. His New York party lifestyle has isolated him from his ex wife Katy and their two remaining sons.  Their unrelenting faith in God is something that Sol has actually grown to resent and he tells Katy that he just got sick and tired of her praying for his soul. Sol’s self-destructive habits eventually catch up to him and a serious car crash leaves him clinically dead for four minutes before he is finally resuscitated by some heroic first responders.  It’s a miracle that he’s still alive, but what really changes Sol’s outlook on life is what happens during those four minutes.  It’s a four word message that refuses to let him go despite his best efforts to deny it"...and those words are "LET THERE BE LIGHT".

Right off the bat, as the movie swings open, a big debate is going on between a polished, apparently mainstream evangelical Christian TV show guy and the celebrity atheist and superstar author Dr. Sol Harkins, played by "Hercules" - Kevin Sorbo. The debate happens in front of a huge lecture crowd which is actually representative of a lot of professing "Christians" these days. While the evangelical debates from familiar talking points, the accomplished celebrity author is able to not just passionately proseltyze as a pagan to the weak minds out there, but then go Elmer Gantry on them, with raw emotion. You see, even atheists know there is a God. Just ask Richard Dawkins, who once remarked "Oh my God...." when he forgot the full title of the book "Origins of the Species" by Darwin!

I have read other reviews of LTBL, by Biblical solid christian websites and blogs I always rely on for good discernment, and I could not disagree with them more. One of them is Patheos. This is NOT a cheesy Christian film. On the contrary, as anyone can see from the articles on this blog, I only promote the Bible and what it says - as far as life is concerned. I see the heresy out there and leave it to great people like Challies and Patheos or Dr. Al Mohler to talk about those things. My calling is to alert those who are open to it and what that scene, where the great Kevin Sorbo and his character shows is just how gullible and easily led into oblivion, the majority of people are. It was almost infuriating to watch our God being blasphemed by "Dr. Sol Harkins" (Sorbo) and people sit there and applaud him for doing so. These are some of the same people who will show up in a megachurch, the very next weekend and singalong with the latest Hillsong worship song, while sipping a caramel macchiato from the coffee shop in the church lobby. This is my first takeaway.

The movie DOES takes several turns from here on out as Sorbo's character embarks on a search for the meaning of those four words - LET THERE BE LIGHT. I see nothing hoaky or cheesy about it, just some good screenplay writing and as an evangelist and author myself - Gospel preaching. What some of our own evangelical critics of this movie may have forgotten is that the prime focus of a Christian and Faith-based movie is the Gospel. Using a former Italian 'wise guy' who spent 10 years in the joint and got saved when someone gives him a Gideon New Testament - his only companion for "three years in the hole" is genius. After all, the movie background is New York City and some of the best churches in NYC are in Brooklyn - the biggest being the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which covers every single nationality in the world. (Never mind the movie was filmed in Birmingham, Alabama! Lol).

Two hundred Gideon New Testaments 

like the one in the movie, handed out

at Inner City Trunk or Treat, 90 

minutes, to people who have never

had their bibles  - IN AMERICA! 

What Pastor "Vinny" does in his simple, funny and "goomba" - speak is to explain the Gospel of Salvation to an atheist better than some real preachers on TV and whom I know personally, who spent four years in seminary! He does that while having us laughing out loud.

I have been a Gideon Bible Society man for going on 23 years and have handed out 1000's and 1000's of Bibles to so many people as well as tens of thousands of tracts. I have had one man come looking for me at a Christian men's conference years ago, who said I gave him a gospel tract in front of a bar, during a parade once, and he didn't want to take it, but his wife did. These things have eternal consequences. As one who is hands on involved in evangelism no matter the neighborhood (from college campus to the inner city), there is something happening when the Word of God changes hands from me to a recipient. I just finished handing out 200 Orange New Testaments (student) to child and adult alike at an inner city "Trunk or Treat" Halloween replacement party for almost 400 people in a disadvantaged neighborhood. The hugs and love were icing on the cake. This was the second takeaway from LTBL - Pastor Vinny's Gideon bible from jail.

Kevin Sorbo and wife Samantha with real life son.
They all had a part in Let There Be Light.

My final takeaway, which actually had me teary-eyed, was Dr. Harkins' wife Katy (who is actually Kevin Sorbo's real-life wife, Samantha) and her explanation to her two (also real-life) sons as to why God chooses to answer prayers the way He does. Her two surviving sons were praying for her healing from a terminal disease and worried God was not listening to them. THIS is the sort of thing which each one of us as Christians and believers will ultimately face in life, as sure as we live and breathe. If we cannot explain it to someone else, or understand it ourselves, then there will be bitterness, doubt and even unbelief.

For me, this last portion of the Hannity-Sorbo creation was worth the entire endeavor - first, the risk of these great men taking a chance to make a movie like this and secondly, to have solid Bible based doctrine to apply to real life, and then write it into a screenplay like this. I think the misunderstanding of what a Christian movie, whether it is Let There Be Light or God's Not Dead (1 or 2) and some others is expectation.  Sure we want to be entertained and have high standards due to the production quality of mainstream Hollywood.  But a Christian movie is more than just watching Star Wars in IMAX and going "wow" for about 5-10 minutes afterwards. 

We expect something more life-enhancing, rich, solid and sound when we watch a Faith Based movie, whether is by Sorbo or David A.R. White or the Christiano Brothers. The good thing is - these men never disappoint and I for one, will continue to support these movies in the theaters. I have already started word of mouth among my own circle of friends of LBTL. Let's continue to do pass the word along, this holiday season!

Roll Tide

LORD, I AM AMAZED BY YOU - JOY

Do we often get these two things confused - Joy and Happiness?  We do and while the world around us may merge both concepts and call them the same, the follower of Christ should be aware of the difference. The contrast between the two could not be more stark.

The world says if you follow this formula - go to school for over a decade; get an education; get a driver's licence and go to college AND graduate, when then, you can have the big dream. THEN you would be happy.

The dream life is the three bedroom ranch with an entertainment room in the basement. 
The dream life is the job paying $65,000 right off the bat and a new car. 
The dream life is the beautiful spouse and 2 1/2 children (what does this 1/2 look like?) and the annual vacation in Myrtle Beach. Well how is that working out now? Politicians and the culture killed that dream and our young people are now stuck with massive college debt paid to fat and rich uber-liberal college professors. They have no prospects for that future. All of that "dream" stuff was supposed to last into perpetuity and make our children happy.  Now make no bones, some of it is still possible, but it is the subject of another essay.

For everybody else, the marketing gurus and the culture and the society tell us if we have the latest Bowflex machine; the latest tablet computer; the latest smartphone; the latest fast car; the Cruise we can't afford; the latest ....(fill in the blanks)...we will be happy, happy, happy!

Can all of this make us feel good? Yes, a new iPad or laptop or SUV will make us feel really good! There is nothing wrong with working all year and getting some time away from the grind with a week in a cabin by a lake or down by Gulf Shores, Alabama. Just do not confuse this with Joy! This is material and even emotional temporary 'happiness' which is about as fleeting as a full tank of gas on a 15 hour trip to the coast.

God calls us to something more permanent, real and which is exclusively FOR you, designed with YOU in mind and which is pure, undefiled and CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY by ANYONE - none! No one, no government, no person, no demonic force from the prince and the power of the air, can take this away. 

THIS IS CALLED - JOY! 

Joy is not only a feeling. Joy is an attribute and a permanent condition of the Heart of the Follower of the Lord, through the Only Way possible - Jesus Christ! 

Joy is the blessed assurance that not only that Jesus is yours - as Lord and Savior - but He is your defense; your comfort; your shield; your protector and your Guide.

Joy is the state of consciousness where a river of peace flows through you; while the waves of turbulence in a corrupt and perishing world lash against the sides of the Ship of your Life.

Joy is the absolute knowledge that whatever befalls us when those trying times and tribulation hit, that our citizenship is not on this current earth but in the  New Jerusalem, the New Creation, the New Kingdom of 1000 years.

Joy is that peace that passes ALL understanding.

I can do on and on about this and will, on another occasion. Suffice it for now that we can discern the Will of our Amazing Lord and then have true happiness - God's Way. Joy is that kind of "happiness" if you will. Joy is not some temporary sort of dependence which more and more unbelieving masses of millions look for, when they put their faith in politicians and corrupt people for their sustenance and happiness.  Joy is peace, and until you have that, there will just no joy in "Mudville". There will be no peace, no justice and no true and God-ordained happiness. Amen.

The following promises of Scripture affirm our status as joyful children of God who can stand in that gap of Peace knowing His Word is true, because HE is Faithful and True! Meditate on them:
Psalm 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You
defend them: let them also that love Your Name be joyful in You.
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life: in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 22:3 But You are holy, 0 You that inhabits the praises of Israel.
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 34:1,2 I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord:the humble shall hear and be glad.
Psalm 35:9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in His salvation.
Psalm 40:16 Let all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You: let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion; shout 0 daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: He is just, and having salvation.
Matthew 5:11,12 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you..... Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken to you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...
Ephesians 5:18,19 Be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give

SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST - PART 2 "THE I AM STATEMENTS"

THE ORIGINAL HEBREW FROM GOD TO MOSES, GENESIS 1:1

The signature of Jesus is not just all over Creation but in the Bible from beginning to End. Right off in the Book of Genesis 1:1, we have His Signature!!! Here is His actual Signature in the Original Hebrew which Moses wrote:
This is the Hebrew for "In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth". 
The Hebrew in RED: אֵ֥ת  is not translated because it could not be. It is only two letters - Aleph and Tav - or as we say in English - THE BEGINNING AND THE END!!! (In the New Testament Book of Revelation 22:13, He says "I am the Alpha and the Omega" - Same translation! In the Greek it is "Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ". These facts are honey to those of us who love every jot and tittle of God's Word - ALL of it!!! Woohoo!!

They will look on Me whom they have pierced Zech 12:10

There are more statements from the Creator about Himself in the Scriptures! In this second and final part of the Superiority of Christ, we examine some of the I AM statements as well as some of the Gates of Jerusalem! Learn not just about those statements but the importance of the GATES of Jerusalem to the Believer TODAY: 
THE GATES: THE FISH GATE, THE VALLEY GATE ETC..

SOME OF JESUS' I AM STATEMENTS:

"I am the bread of life"  (John 6:35)

"I am the light of the world" (John 8:12)

"I am the door of the sheep"(John 10:7)

"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11)

"I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25).

"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)

"I am the true vine" (John 15:1).

PART 1

PART 2

(Google Images)

THINK ON THESE THINGS - SUNDAY

UNCERTAIN CERTAINTY

RELYING ON GOD IN ANXIOUS TIMES

"Certainty is the mother of quiet and repose, and uncertainty the cause of variance and contentions”. This is a quote from the 16^th century English businessman Edward Coke.

Let’s look at some definitions:
Certain: free from doubt; destined to happen; absolutely positive; inevitable.

Uncertain: unknown; not confident of; doubtful; indefinite

Variance: a state of difference or disagreement

Contentions: strife; struggling; disharmony; disagreements; disputes

DICHOTOMY

There is a dichotomy between the two views. We have certainty versus the banging cymbals of uncertainty, variance and contentions….and this describes our world today!

We look around and see monster mile-wide long tornadoes completely wiping out entire city blocks of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

We see 5.2 Earthquakes in Oklahoma, with the New Madrid and San Andreas Faults (Midwest and California respectively) ready to go at any time. These faults could cause more loss to people and property than any earthquake around the world so far!

We see untold heavy rains threaten livestock and lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri as families and friends are scared for their farms.

We see floods gushing through previously untouchable homes and towns, leaving debris in its wake…and more.

Many, including some pretty level-headed people who are somewhat grounded in Biblical truth, scratch their heads and wonder about the Creator allowing this to happen. Even the toughest believers in God gulp and gasp at that terrible wind blowing apart parts of Southern Alabama at NASCAR speed!

We can go on and on with the examples here, but the only way any of these tragedies make any sense is to comprehend some of the Ways of God and why Creation is in an uproar.

Uncertain times demand a comforting word from the Promises of the Creator – the God of the Universe!

YOUR WAYS

When we have a national or large scale tragedy – for instance the Japanese Tsunami or the Alabama Tornados – the rationale mind goes into logic, trying to figure out the incomprehensible.

 Here is what God has to say about that in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.  So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

The corrupt puny mind of mortal man manages to manufacture multiple methods to attain to a level of understanding which no one this side of Paradise could EVER comprehend! Sure they can come up with ridiculous things like Evolution and cloning sheep, but they will never be able to fathom the mind of God.

Common sense does not always make sense to an uncommon God. Our minds tell us “by all calculations, thus and such should be so!”  The western concept of the perfectly planned life goes like this:

-         Go to K-12 school; play sports; be in band; get good grades; go to Prom; graduate.

-         Get into a good college; get a student loan; get a part-time retail job; begin classes.

-         Party in college; send home for money; scope out future spouses; cram for finals; use lots of caffeine; get report card; get summer job and go home in u-Haul.

-         Repeat previous line for four years; graduate with a Bachelor or a four year/two year Associates Degree!!

-         Get recruited by a growing or established company or have no trouble finding a job; alongside, as some grieving, move back home 

-         Begin working 8-5 job; drink Starbucks daily; live in cubicle world; join Fitness Club; buy used program car; fall in love.

-         Get married; fall in debt; have 2.5 kids (who is this “.5” kid anyway?) and WE’RE OFF!!!!

Sometime in the past few years, this paradigm was turned on its head. The certainty of the affluent western lifestyle was turned on its overburdened head when the House of Cards collapsed. 

With the encouragement of certain citizens, politicians created the bondage of a Free Lunch, the bill came due, and all this dancing with the devil left hell to pay!

NEW PARADIGM

Beginning in 2008, the economy took such a huge nosedive that it looked like this Path to Success, developed after World War II by the American Dream, began to look like a bad dream. Once safe and secure occupations and sacred cows were considered no longer safe or sacred.

Oh, and by the way, have you ever wondered about this term “Sacred Cow”? The last time someone took ton of gold and fashioned a Golden Calf out of the fire for pagan revelry aka “worship”, God got so angry at Aaron the High Priest and the Israelites that He killed a whole bunch of them….but I digress.

Not only were entire portfolios of retirement and other wealth down the drain, in a corrupt orgy of mammon worship from Wall Street to Washington, DC,  but middle aged professionals lost their jobs with nowhere to turn. The once exciting prospective jobs out there for college graduates completely disappeared.

Then a phenomenon which began about a decade ago, really ramped up. Twenty something’s who lived with all their modern conveniences in their own apartments began to move back in with their parents. Grandparents then began to raise their second batch of children – their grandchildren; while their kids either looked for any kind of work or could not cope with the demands and failures of the results of their lack of …you fill in the blanks.

This was the start of the New Paradigm. It does not mean everyone is a failure just that the opportunities have narrowed and are now almost non-existent, unless you are a self-starter. The modern technological world offers endless possibilities for those who are innovative and have a passion for adventure.

This new generation of both high school and college graduates are unable to find their footing in life. Raised on Electronics, fast cars, fast food and day care, what little they were taught in Sunday school 15 or more years earlier, was lost in the secular humanist world of University and intellectualism!

They have no moral grounding, having been told a pack of lies from “if it feels good, do it” to “it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you sincerely believe it”!

They have no character core, having be sold a bag of goods about alternate lifestyles, premarital sex and may have even witness shortcomings in their parents’ ethics in how THEY conduct their own lives.

They have no Foundation of Faith, because as we now know (because of Ken Ham’s and Britt Beamer’s earth shattering book “ALREADY GONE”), we lost the next generation in our Evangelical churches of America starting in Sunday school…in our BEST Bible-teaching churches!

All college did was speed up their falling away from the Faith to the point where over 57% of EVANGELICALS – that’s people who believe like you and I! They now say there is another way to heaven than Jesus!

ARE  YOU SURE?!

THIS is what we’re operating with – a new generation in their early 20’s – purposely neglect the preaching, teaching and reaching of the Word of God. …and who could care less about it!

Here is what the great Oswald Chambers said, over 100 years ago…and this addresses part of our concern tremendously! Chambers said “Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness, it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest, He packs our life with surprises all the time”. 

What Oswald is saying is, as we look at the failure to achieve certain material milestones by age 25 or 35 etc, it is not necessarily a bad thing….because that kind of thinking is indicative of the movement which rendered Western Europe almost “godless” with their Age of Reason.  This is the stinking thinking which attempts to analyze the Faith with human rationale, rather than live in the hope and expectation of a sure and secure better tomorrow, through the Christian Life.

Following also on his line of thinking, it behooves us to be live in Joyful Uncertainty!! Yes, this is correct!  We must be like little children to see the Kingdom of God and even if we are several decades in the Faith, learning and living for Jesus…and being sure about it, we can look at situations such as Alabama, or Illinois etc with a nervous expectancy of “I wonder how God is going to move here to rescue His People”!!

Jesus Himself gave us this certain promise from John 14:1 “

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me”.

NOTE THIS: Jesus did not say “believe only this 45% over there and the other 55% over there. He did not say “believe only this certain thing about Me but not this one…or that one…but believe THIS one!!”

DON’T BE ANXIOUS

You know, sometime within the next 50 years or more, EVERY ONE of us will be standing in front of the REAL Lord Jesus for Judgment and rewards if we are saved, and the final Judgment leading to hell, if we aren’t!

These brief unsure and uncertain days and years on planet earth determine our eternal destination. How we live NOW has eternal impact, no matter what it is.

Jesus looked at a generation then who did not have to use anti-depressant drugs and other medication to remain focused but who worried constantly about things they had no control over!

Here are parts of His “Anxious” statements from Matthew 6:

-         do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.(vs. 25)

-         which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (vs. 27)

-         And why are you anxious about clothing? (vs. 28)

He then lights into them and tells them “Oh you of little faith” and then “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear. For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you… (Verses 31-33).

The USA is the LAND of Anxiety, my friends and it shows in the National medication prescription drug list! Not only are panic attacks and anxiety problems increasing, including about so-called Christians, but the prescription drug usage is phenomenal! 

The leading Anxiety drugs are Cymbalta, Zoloft and Prozac. It is a multi-billion dollar Bermuda Triangle of downward spiraling away from the Anointing of the best of the Spirit-filled life!

The sad reality is more and more of us on this great continent are unable to cope with the simplest of instructions from the Creator of the Universe – Jesus – and need toxic chemical pills to make it through each day!  Everything Jesus warned against above is in the material realm.  All He is saying is “guys, put this thing in perspective….quit thinking about where and what fancy meal you will eat next, or the shopping at JC Penney’s to be done….or…name it…just put this aside for a minute and see the Bigger Picture!!”

The Bigger Picture is a life of uncertainty based on Faith, knowing that our home is not on this dying planet, but we have an automatic citizenship in Heaven with Abba Father as our Guide, Teacher, Comforter and Friend! Amen!

IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS

So what should we glean from all of this, as we see the world tearing away from reality and (what we consider) order, DAILY?!  When the guy at work next to you, whether it’s at the construction site or the office…or even sitting in the pew next you…when that guy in his genuine confusion, looks at the chaos, the monster tornados, the devastation and loss of life…JUST HOW IS A MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO THAT?

How can we comfort others in times of uncertainty when God just does not ‘make sense’, in the earthly sense? Well, we HAVE and MUST dig deep within ourselves and access that fountain of Faith He built in there, when He gave us His Holy Spirit and just worship!

YES! I said WORSHIP! I am not telling you anything I haven’t done myself! I can’t begin to tell you the many crises, personal and otherwise, where I just had to give it up,  make myself a living sacrifice, die to myself, fall down and just say “Lord, I don’t get this…please take this from me!!”

And He does! If we would just stay up, look up, pray up and praise up…He will lift us up! Why? Because He is a God Whose Ways we can never understand, but He is certain about His Promises to never leave or forsake you, in a dry and thirsty land!

Worship! That’s how! King David, a man after God’s Own Heart showed us how…here…in part…from 2 Samuel 22: 19-34. I am putting all the verses here, from the Amplified Bible, so we can follow the process of Worship, which David walks us through as He Himself was led out of certain death by his enemies (when King Saul was hunting him and trying to kill him) to a place of certain peace and rest.

 All the noteworthy passages are emphasized.  Comments are in BLUE after the verse.  Glory to His Name! 

2 Samuel 22: 19-24 AMP

¹⁹They came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay.
²⁰He brought me forth into a large place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
    ²¹The Lord rewarded me according to my uprightness with Him; He compensated and benefited me according to the cleanness of my hands. (Perseverance rewarded!)
    ²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. (Don’t join in with the world today, but stay the Course of Christ).
    ²³For all His ordinances were before me; and from His statutes I did not turn aside. (Staying within the boundaries of the Word keeps us from sin!)
    ²⁴I was also blameless before Him and kept myself from guilt and iniquity.
    ²⁵Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His [holy] sight.
    ²⁶Toward the loving and loyal You will show Yourself loving and loyal, and with the upright and blameless You will show Yourself upright and blameless. (The Eyes of the Lord runneth to and fro, across the WHOLE earth  ...to find those who are LOYAL to HIM…and ALL HIS PROMISES ARE YES and AMEN!!!! IT IS TRUE! TRY HIM!! TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD!!!!)
    ²⁷To the pure You will show Yourself pure, and to the willful You will show Yourself willful.
    ²⁸And the afflicted people You will deliver, but Your eyes are upon the haughty, whom You will bring down.
    ²⁹For You, O Lord, are my Lamp; the Lord lightens my darkness. (When it seems darkest today, when calamity strikes, when wars abound and economies fall….HE LIGHTS UP THE WAY FOR US…through WORSHIP!)
    ³⁰For by You I run through a troop; by my God I leap over a wall. (I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me…even make it through the coming Tribulation!)
    ³¹As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried. He is a Shield to all those who trust and take refuge in Him. (A PROMISE KEPT!)
    ³²For who is God but the Lord? And who is a Rock except our God? (ANOTHER PROMISE KEPT!)
    ³³God is my strong Fortress; He guides the blameless in His way and sets him free. (YET ANOTHER PROMISE KEPT!)
    ³⁴He makes my feet like the hinds' [firm and able]; He sets me secure and confident upon the heights. (YES AND AMEN!)

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Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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